Exhibit tells story of immigrants from Dominican Republic

This new exhibit in NYC, called "Dominicans in New York", shows the story of this group of immigrants. A very important part of our country. DP

By Marietta Homayonpour, Staff Writer

NEW YORK -- A statue of Juan Pablo Duarte, the founding father of the Dominican Republic, stands at Avenue of the Americas and Canal Street in Manhattan thanks to the effort of immigrants like Juan Paulino.

The story of Paulino, who came from the Dominican Republic to New York in 1962, is one of several highlighted in an exhibit that runs through Jan. 30 at the Dominican Studies Institute of the City University of New York.

Called "Dominicans in New York," the exhibit features some of the thousands of photos and documents in the institute's archives. "The exhibit is a glimpse into our collection," said Idilio Gracia Pena, the institute's chief archivist said.

At nearly 700,000 people, the largest foreign-born population in New York City comes from the Dominican Republic, according to Sarah Aponte, head of the institute's library. In the United States there are 1.4 million people from the Dominican Republic, a nation in the Caribbean that shares the island of Hispaniola with Haiti.

A significant number of Dominicans settled in Connecticut, including the Danbury area. "In the 1990s," Dominican Studies Institute director Ramona Hernandez said, "there was a movement of Dominicans from New York City to other states. The New England corridor was a natural path."

U.S. Census numbers show in 1990 there were 789 Dominicans in Danbury and by 2000 that number had nearly tripled to 2,033.

On a much smaller scale, surrounding towns also increased their population from the Dominican Republic. New Milford went from 10 Dominicans in 1990 to 32 in 2000. Bethel went from zero to 38.

One of those Dominican immigrants is Elliette Matos, who came from her native country to Stamford 11 years ago and moved to Bethel three years later. She started a Spanish language newspaper and owns a bead store in Danbury called Bjewelme.
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